According to the American Farm Bureau, “Farm and ranch families comprise of just two percent of the U.S. population.” Two percent. That’s it. In the United States, there are approximately 2.2 million farms. Sure, that number may seem big, but with a population of about 320,000,000 people, there come a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes about farmers. Although there is an endless amount of stereotypes, ones that hit close to home for me are the stereotypes that are put on the American farmer and rancher. When people are asked to describe the “stereotypical farmer”, most people respond with dirty, old, have no life, generally males, ignorant, apathetic, dumb, and unable to do anything but farm, but how many farmers do you actually know? Very few people in the United States realize just how large of a role farmers and ranchers play in their everyday life. So, when some people say "Those dumb farmers don't even know what they're doing," "Ranchers don't even care about their animals," or "It doesn't take anyone or anything special to be a farmer," I think those people need to think twice about what exactly they are saying. If it wasn't for our farmers and ranchers, we would be starving, unclothed, low on fuel, and millions of acres of land would …show more content…
In an article published on "The Ohio State Extension" website entitled "Avoid the Common Stereotyping of Farmers," I found a list of skills that today's successful American farmer must possess, and having grown up on a farm, I find it to be completely true. "A farmer must possess skills in the following professions: welding, accounting, farm law, politician, wildlife officer, veterinarian, construction, finance, animal husbandry, corporate executive, marketing, entomologist, plant pathologist, good neighbor, plumber, electrician, research scientist and an eternal optimist, just to mention a few."
The film “Iowa- An American Portrait” was narrated by Tom Brokaw. It described the land, people, education, work, religion, and family life of Iowa. One of the main topics of the film was the general view of Iowa- the Farm State. Iowa has more than two- hundred- thousand farms; ninety- eight percent of Iowa’s total land is used for production; with ninety percent of total land being used for the production of food.
Growing up on a farm is not uncommon if you live in Western Kansas. As many know, however, it 's not
This conversation actually took place during my first semester of college. However, being quite accustomed to the questions that I am frequently asked about the place I call home, this conversation somehow made me more upset than usual. This conversation made me realize just how blind society can be towards other groups in society. Different stereotypes are placed on groups for various reasons-race, sex, occupations, and geographical locations-just to name a few. The last of these four different classifications is the one that distinguishes me from most of society. Growing up in Appalachia has made me a minority (different from the rest of society), and also plagued me with many stereotypes. Everyone in society has heard the stereotypes. However, I would like to focus on the how's and why's of them. How they came to be. Why society does perceive...
even to work on a farm, you need to have quite a lot of skill. The
In 1919, farmers from thirty states, including Missouri, saw a need. They gathered in Chicago and formed the American Farm Bureau Federation. In 1919, they had one goal, they wanted to speak for themselves with the help of their own national organization. Since 1919, Farm Bureau has operated by a philosophy that states: “analyze the problem of farmers and develop a plan of action for these problems” (Missouri). In the past 94 years, the A...
The first premise is known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO). These are operations concentrate to meet the demand of low cost high quantity amounts of food. For years, farms were thought of as the farmer that woke before the sun to tend to the livestock and the children would work the farm after school. This is no longer the case, these small-scale farms fight to complete with the larger industrial factory farms that have the capability to meet the economic and agricultural demand. CAFOs are becoming a battleground in the war over food and the environment in the United States. (Kolbe, 2013) The center of this war is Iowa with its rural population and interest in the agricultural industry. There is increasing concern over these operations from their surrounding areas.
Health habits formed in childhood are incredibly hard to break as they grow into adults, and an unhealthy child population equals an unhealthy adult population before too long. The farm bill’s specific catering to such a small number of crops cuts down on what readily available products there are to feed to the population, especially as the farm bill “…offers little, if any, support to the California farmers who produce nearly half of our nation’s fruits, nuts, and vegetables, despite the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s nutritional guidelines calling for a diet rich in all three” (Farm Bill Should Focus on Healthful Foods, 31). I agree that by ignoring these extremely important farms in the face of making money we are only hurting ourselves in the long run. Most of our population is not a wealthy one, and to remove healthy choices from our reach and yet still expect us to be a healthy, thriving class of people is not only impossible but also
The seemingly simple term “rancher” is commonly misinterpreted. The term rancher may bring to mind a guy riding a bucking bull or horse in a western movie or maybe a tough looking guy without much brains raising cattle on the prairie. Other people think of a farmer. Actual ranchers specifically raise cattle, while farmers raise crops, hogs, and poultry. Modern ranchers are hardworking men and women who live off the land raising cattle for consumers. Despite popular beliefs, it takes a lot of knowledge to raise cattle. American ranchers use business and technology skills to raise cattle. Even with these skills, they are still at the mercy of Mother Nature and gamble with her every year.
Farmers everywhere in the United States during the late nineteenth century had valid reasons to complaint against the economy because the farmers were constantly being taken advantage of by the railroad companies and banks. All farmers faced similar problems and for one thing, farmers were starting to become a minority within the American society. In the late nineteenth century, industrialization was in the spotlight creating big businesses and capitals. The success of industrialization put agriculture and farmers on the down low, allowing the corporations to overtake the farmers. Since the government itself; such as the Republican Party was also pro-business during this time, they could have cared less about the farmers.
In the year 2000 the United States had the largest number of tractors at 4,800,000 tractors with Japan coming in second with 2,028,000 tractors. Clearly a huge industry for the modern farmer.
At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into misconceptions. Usually, stereotypes are utilized to humiliate and degrade the person or group; they also do not provide any beneficial outcomes. Stereotypes focus on how a particular group acts because of the radical ideas and actions of the few, how a particular group looks, or how that group is physically lacking in some way. These stereotypes often lead to conflicts because the group does not appreciate the way it is perceived. Seldom are the stereotypes placed on a group of people truthful and accurate.
...struggling to earn any income at all and sometimes do not even get the opportunity to eat. Another issue that Raj Patel did not touch on is the lack of care consumers have for the farmers. It seems that consumers care about farmers about as much as the corporations do, which, in my opinion, is not a lot. When consumers only care about low prices and large corporations only care about making a profit, the farmers are left out to dry. Many consumers believe “food should be available at a bargain price, a belief that relies on labor exploitation and environmental exhaustion at multiple points along the commodity chain.” (Wright, 95) Corporations as well as consumers generally tend to be selfish and I think Raj Patel is afraid to mention this. If only these people cared a little bit more about each other I believe the hourglass of the food system will begin to even out.
...nnected to nature and have the responsibility of providing the world food, clothing, and a great deal of other things as well. Through it all farmers are a tight-knit group of men and women who have a mutual respect of nature and each other regardless of what type of farming they choose.
Farmers are essentially the back-bone of the entire food system. Large-scale family farms account for 10% of all farms, but 75% of overall food production, (CSS statistics). Without farmers, there would be no food for us to consume. Big business picked up on this right away and began to control the farmers profits and products. When farmers buy their land, they take out a loan in order to pay for their land and farm house and for the livestock, crops, and machinery that are involved in the farming process. Today, the loans are paid off through contracts with big business corporations. Since big business has such a hold over the farmers, they take advantage of this and capitalize on their crops, commodities, and profits. Farmers are life-long slaves to these b...
Agriculture has always been one of the pillars that our nation’s economy depends upon. As this industry grows and expands agriculture is not just farming. There’s so many different occupations that are involved with the industry that aren’t out in the fields produces food and fiber. With such an evolving industry, education is key to make sure everyone is up to speed with the newest knowledge and technology. Agricultural education, plays a huge role in educating the people within the industry along with people that benefit from it.